Disclosed in copending U.S. patent application No. 09/046,947 are appliances with a mode of operation which allows the appliance user to log onto the Internet. Particularly in the composition of e-mail messages, a keyboard type input device is advantageous, if not essential, to make e-mail messaging practical.
Appliances of the character described in the preceding paragraph are designed so that they can be used in environments--such as a kitchen--where water and other foreign substances are present. For a keyboard to be usable in such environments, exclusion of water and other foreign substances from the keyboard interior is needed. Otherwise water and/or other foreign substances might penetrate to the interior of the device and damage, if not totally ruin, internal components of the device.